I suggested taking the church-owned property tax exemption (to the tune of $3-6 billion dollars annually - I'll have to locate that source), off the tax code as a step in correcting the economic issues currently facing us on one of my Poli-Sci final essay questions. Full credit given, so my Catholic instructor wasn't hypocritical.

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“Be skeptical. But when you get proof, accept proof.” –Michael Specter

Many churches have been pushing the IRS by promoting political views in order to get a case before the Supreme Court. What kind of uproar do you think FOX/GOP would make if the IRA really investigated any of them...Tea Party is in the same grouping.

Right...cuz you live here, and know exactly what it's like to be looked down on by your community for not attending either the right church, or any church at all. I have been in a conversation where I work, a Fortune 200 company, where it was said that I can kiss my hopes of rising up the ladder goodbye unless I go to a specific church, where it just so happens that many of the highest management go.

It's disgusting on a scale that I doubt you can ever fathom from your Jesus blanket...

Whilst I don't doubt that such discrimination occurs, and I am sorry that it does, I have always been skeptical that a Christian culture is dominant in the USA to the extent indicated on this forum. No doubt it has pockets where church goers outnumber non-church goers, but what percentage of Americans go to church regulalry overall? 20-30%?

In any event, the OP isn't affected by churches in New York. He lives in Australia same as me, where being a Christian is most definitely being the one singled out and made fun of.

Whilst I don't doubt that such discrimination occurs, and I am sorry that it does, I have always been skeptical that a Christian culture is dominant in the USA to the extent indicated on this forum. No doubt it has pockets where church goers outnumber non-church goers, but what percentage of Americans go to church regulalry overall? 20-30%?

A lot depends on where one lives. The minority who do the discrimination are shielded from public criticism by the majority who might not discriminate themselves, but are still of the same "tribe" - Christianity.

Whilst I don't doubt that such discrimination occurs, and I am sorry that it does, I have always been skeptical that a Christian culture is dominant in the USA to the extent indicated on this forum. No doubt it has pockets where church goers outnumber non-church goers, but what percentage of Americans go to church regulalry overall? 20-30%?

A lot depends on where one lives. The minority who do the discrimination are shielded from public criticism by the majority who might not discriminate themselves, but are still of the same "tribe" - Christianity.

What do you mean, are shielded from public criticism? ( I'm having a lot of fun imagining town criers all over America being gang tackled by parishioners, but I doubt that's what you mean )

Nah, I mean that in a part of the world that's culturally Christian, where Christianity is "normal", being ostracized for not being "Christian" is something that's supported by the weight of normality associated with it. Especially in a country that prides itself on religious freedom, which in such cases means "freedom to be an ass to those not of my religion".

Hmm. Assholes are assholes regardless of belief. I suspect that if America was less 'culturally' Christian and more populated with people genuinely trusting and following Jesus, it would be a better place to live.

Perhaps your understanding of the true nature of Jesus is further from theirs, and being an asshole to those not of the faith is something that follows from more genuinely trusting and following Jesus.

But that's just relying on the very personal judgment abilities that are in question. It's you saying that you'd know your judgment is more accurate than their judgment by using your personal judgment.

Indeed. And my judgement of Anne of Green Gables[1] as an erotic tale of a farmer's illicit love for a precocious young orphan is no less valid than some of those fruitcakes out there, who see it as some sort of feel good story of a kindly farmer taking pity on an orphan and helping to raise her with love.

This is an interesting question, in more ways than one. First of all, as you'd probably expect, attendance varies quite a bit by state. I'm proud to say that the state I consider to be my adopted home state, Vermont, has the lowest attendance, as well as the highest number of atheists.

Briefly, there are a lot of people here who don't go to church regularly but say they do because they feel like they have to due to cultural pressure. It's somewhat like going to the dentist. People who don't brush and/or floss often enough frequently overreport how diligent they are about their oral hygiene because they don't want to admit the truth.

In parts of the South, especially, pressure to attend church is especially strong, even in some ways that might not occur to most people. When two people are introduced to each other for the first time, for example, one of the first introductory questions often presented, along with "where are you from?", "where do you work?", and so on, is "what church do you go to?" If you reply that you don't go to church, people will, at the least, look at you a little oddly and wonder whether there's something wrong with you. And openly declaring atheism in such areas will, indeed, subject you to various forms of discrimination.

In other parts of the country, atheism is no big deal. I live in the Metro DC area and have never had any problems with being an open atheist. I did get some static about it when I was living in Hawaii, but that was mostly when I was in school and can likely be chalked up to the fact that children are often cruel to each other. Ditto when I was living in central Florida.

Not a word of a lie - at the exact moment I read this sentence I was trying to dislodge a bit of apple from my teeth and thinking I'd need to use floss. This sort of coincidence happens to me quite a bit.

I went to college in a town that had the highest number of churches and bars per capita in the state.

I went to college in a town in which a pizza place wanted to sell alcohol but couldn't because a city ordinance required that any establishment that sells alcohol must have its entrance at least 200 feet away from the entrance to a church. Of course, there was a large church just down the street from the pizza place. The owner of the business promptly remodeled the basement to the building to create his bar and used the back door to the building as the entrance to the bar. The back door was exactly 2 inches further than required thereby allowing him to sell alcohol. Of course, alcohol is served an consumed within the 200 foot boundary ...

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John 14:2 :: In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

mm - piano said it nicely. In a nutshell, it may indeed be very difficult for you to understand the social/cultural pressures of religion in some areas of the U.S. - especially the south.

It has improved for me, in my own mind, because of what I think about religion and gods. But I have been verbally attacked in small groups where my atheist views are seen as a concern. One friend told me that they were just concerned about my salvation - but I have good reason to doubt their sincerity. It can be amusing to listen to them ramble on about why they believe the things they do, but it always has an edge to it that leaves me wondering what they talk about in my absence.